CNN’s POLITICAL GUT CHECK | for July 10, 2014 | 5 p.m.
— n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

PERRY: ‘HE SHOWED UP AT SANDY. WHY NOT TEXAS?’ ... Texas Gov. Rick Perry and others are lashing out at President Barack Obama's decision not to tour border facilities overwhelmed by a flood of undocumented children, saying he was shirking a fundamental duty. "The American people expect to see their President when there is a disaster," he told CNN's Kate Bolduan in an interview that aired Thursday, citing Obama's trip to the East Coast to tour damage caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. "He showed up at Sandy. Why not Texas?"Follow @GutCheckCNNFollow @sarafischerFollow @AlanSilverleib
Both Republicans and the White House have described the crush of Central American children as a humanitarian crisis, but Obama said Wednesday that visiting facilities where the children are processed and detained would be little more than a photo opportunity. "There's nothing that is taking place down there that I am not intimately aware of and briefed on. This isn't theater. This is a problem," Obama said Wednesday. – Tom Cohen, Ed Payne and Dana Ford

PHOTO-OP CATCH-22? Damned if he does. Damned if he doesn't. That is essentially the White House explanation for why President Obama opted against a visit to the country's besieged southern border during his trip to Texas this week. – Jim Acosta

BOEHNER RIPS OBAMA: “Listen, this is a problem of the President's own making,” House Speaker John Boehner declared at his weekly news conference Thursday while discussing the border crisis. “He's been President for five and a half years! When is he going to take responsibility for something?”

CHRISTIE HAULS IN $60M MORE FOR RGA …It appears the George Washington Bridge controversy New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's dealing with this year back in the Garden State hasn't affected his standing as one of the GOP's most potent fundraising rainmakers. The Republican Governors Association announced Thursday that it's raised $60 million since Christie was elected chairman of the organization last November. – Paul Steinhauser

… AMERICANS WANT LESS OF PALIN: A new survey indicates that 54% of voters say they've heard enough from Palin and would prefer that the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate be less outspoken in political discourse. That includes nearly two-thirds of Democrats, a majority of independents, and nearly four in 10 Republicans.

TECH WATCH: FEDS SUE AMAZON FOR RIPPING OFF KIDS’ PURCHASES ... Federal regulators announced a lawsuit against Amazon Thursday, accusing the retail giant of illegally charging parents for millions in gaming-related purchases by their kids. The Federal Trade Commission says Amazon allowed kids to make in-app purchases of virtual items like "coins" and "stars" in Kindle Fire games without their parents' consent, a violation of federal law. Amazon earns 30% on all such purchases. – James O’Toole

THE BUZZ: OBAMA-GALIFIANAKIS INTERVIEW NOMINATED FOR EMMY ... He won't be walking the red carpet next month, but President Barack Obama has already made his mark on this year's Emmy Awards. The commander-in-chief's highly popular "Between Two Ferns" interview with comedian Zach Galifianakis earned an Emmy Award Nomination on Thursday in the Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program category. – Wade Payson-Denney

MARKET WATCH:U.S. stocks close lower on concerns about Europe's economy, but finish off their lows. Dow drops 69 points.

TRAIL TRIVIA(Answer Below)
What two words did Texas Gov. Rick Perry have stitched on his cowboy boots?

the LEDE Did you miss it?

Leading CNNPolitics: Justice won't probe CIA, Senate spying allegations
The Justice Department has decided it won't referee charges - and countercharges - of spying between the CIA and the Senate Intelligence Committee. The CIA's general counsel and inspector general each made criminal referrals to the Justice Department seeking an investigation of whether Senate staffers obtained unauthorized access to classified documents related to the agency's now-defunct post-9/11 interrogation program. – Evan Perez

Leading CNNMoney:Why state and local reporting is suffering
When journalists and researchers express concerns about cutbacks in newsrooms, they often point to America's statehouses, where there's a perception that important local reporting has suffered because of newspapers' financial struggles. Does that match up with reality? Essentially yes, says the Pew Research Center. – Brian Stelter

Leading Jerusalem Post:Abbas: Israel to launch a ground operation in Gaza in the coming hours
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday announced that Israel was about to launch a ground operation in the Gaza Strip and called for an unconditional cease-fire. He said that all his efforts to end the violence have failed. – Khaled Abu Toameh

Leading HuffPo:O: Let’s Do This
President Barack Obama urged Congress on Wednesday to quickly approve increased funding to deal with the crisis of immigrant children flooding across the border, as Republicans dig in their heels to demand he change his policies instead. – Elise Foley

Leading Drudge:Germany To Cia Station Chief: Get Out
The German government has asked the CIA station chief at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin to leave the country, an unusual action between allies that represents a public expression of anger over reported cases of U.S. spying in Germany. – Washington Post’s Stephanie Kirchner

Leading Politico:Big data bigwigs cash in
Many of the biggest players tasked with protecting the country after Sept. 11 have a new mission, and one that pays: securing all of the data the corporate world collects on its customers. – Darren Samuelsohn, Byron Tau And Joseph Marks

Leading New York Times:Fleeing Gangs, Children Head to U.S. Border
Honduran children are increasingly on the front lines of gang violence. In June, 32 children were murdered in Honduras, bringing the number of youths under 18 killed since January of last year to 409, according to data compiled by Covenant House, a youth shelter in Tegucigalpa, the capital. – Frances Robles

HOT SOTSThe political bites of the day

- Issa: We’ve found Lois Lerner’s ‘smoking gun’ -REP. DARRELL ISSA, R-CALIFORNIA, TO FOX NEWS ON NEWLY RELEASED LOIS LERNER EMAILS: This is “a smoking gun. This is Lois Lerner clearly cautioning people not to say things on email and being delighted to find out that the local instant chat they have, this Microsoft product, wasn’t tracking what they said.”

- Cuellar: U.S. ‘can’t play defense on the one yard line’ -REP. HENRY CUELLAR, D-TEXAS, TO CNN’S ASHLEIGH BANFIELD: “We have to go after those smuggling organizations. We can't play defense on the one yard line called the U.S. border. We've got to look at this as a humanitarian crisis.”

- Levin releases letters showing unanimous support among Joint Chiefs for efforts to secure Bergdahl’s release -SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN CARL LEVIN, D-MICHIGAN, IN A STATEMENT: “Each of these military leaders emphasized a simple principle – America does not leave its troops behind ... The unanimous support of the Joint Chiefs for securing Sergeant Bergdahl’s release is a powerful statement on the importance of that commitment. I give great weight to their views, and I believe it’s important for the American people to hear them.”

- Pelosi: Be afraid of SCOTUS –HOUSE MINORITY LEADER NANCY PELOSI AT HER WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE: “We should be afraid of this (Supreme) Court - that five guys should start determining what contraceptions are legal or not ... That Court decision was a frightening one. That five men should get down to the specifics of whether a woman should use a diaphragm, and she should pay for it herself or her boss. It's not her boss's business.”

- Todd Akin: My only regret is apologizing -FORMER REP. TODD AKIN, R-MISSOURI, IN HIS NEW BOOK ON HIS 2012 SENATE RUN RAPE COMMENTS: “By asking the public at large for forgiveness ... I was validating the willful misinterpretation of what I had said.”

Martha Stewart (@MarthaStewart)
#the martha blog has amazing photos of my farm taken by a drone! We love the possibilities and opportunities drones offer. Do you?

Vaughn Sterling (‏@vplus)
ABC confirms Rosie O'Donnell will return as co-host of The View with moderator Whoopi Goldberg for Season 18.

Cory Booker (‏@CoryBooker)
I was doing #hipster before it was cool (orig pic is a polaroid). #tbt http://ow.ly/i/6bN6E

TRIVIA ANSWER from @sarafischer

It took a few months for Texas Gov. Rick Perry to decide what he wanted on his boots. But after some thought, Perry told a custom boot maker that “I want an American flag on each one of them. And on the left one, ‘liberty’ and on the right one, ‘freedom,’” he said in an interview with ABC News.

soundoff(27 Responses)

sifto

Tom1..totally agree..it is beyond belief that liberals stick up for Lerner..this is not a blue/red situation..this should affect all Americans ..it may be the libs that are targeted next time..shoe will be on the other foot..

July 11, 2014 06:38 am at 6:38 am |

an Iowan

The GOP caused this crisis and I don't see any of them at the border!
After repeated calls for action from the President over the last several years, the failure of Boehner and his fellow morons to do ANYTHING have led to this!